Wednesday, 18 May 2016

Home learning- How We Use Prime Numbers

Home learning.(Learning shouldn't be seen as 'work')There is a lot of interesting debate about the worthiness of home learning, particularly for primary children.Teaching Year 6 where the children enter Middle School next year and receive at least an hour of home learning per night, we have mixed parent expectations for home learning this year and naturally, it's impossible to satisfy them all.To help make home learning meaningful to the child's learning, I think giving them choice is key.Learning experiences that can compliment and add to the learning taking place in the classroom should also be a key deciding factor.Flipping our classrooms can be a useful way for home learning to be meaningful.This week we are enquiring into prime numbers.I want the children to gain a wonderment of them.So, for home learning they were given a choice of 4 YouTubes all relating to the amazement of prime numbers. Choices:How Cicadas "Use" Prime NumbersHow we use prime numbers when buying things onlineThe Wonders of Prime NumbersTedTalk: Why I fell in love with monster prime numbersGoogle Doc Link to the YouTubesThey were to choose one and record their thoughts.Some samples from you YouTube that explains how we use prime numbers for security shopping online:

Samples of the YouTube explaining how cicadas 'use' prime numbers in nature:

Sample of how people 'fall in love' with monster prime numbers:

We really appreciated how this student tested the theories out and tried to find her own monster prime number!

Sample of the YouTube explaining the wonders of primes:

On Friday, the children grouped according to who watched which YouTube.To reflect and share, in groups each person had 5 minutes to explain what they had learnt. They used their visual as a teaching tool and then each group member rolled a die. Whatever the die landed on, they asked the 'teacher' a question:

It was a fun and engaging way to deepen our understandings of how we use prime numbers in real life. The children enjoyed trying to challenge each other with thought-provoking questions.Home learning can be meaningful and add deepened interest in what we are learning in our classroom.There was a lot of excited buzz in our room with this sharing of some of the wonders of prime numbers!